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Anthony Chiasson, 38 year-old co-founder of Level Global Investors, recently turned himself in to the FBI.  Why?  Because they attempted to arrest him at his home after an insider trading investigation revealed he had made huge amounts of money on illegal insider trades.  In fact, Chiasson made $53 million in a single trade of Dell stock – which is the largest single trade ever charged in Manhattan.   Chiasson wasn’t home when about 6 FBI agents converged on his Upper East Side home, so he turned himself in later.

Investigators allege that a ring of traders at different firms shared information, illegally gaining a total of $61.8 million.  In total, the FBI arrested 7 people, including Chiasson.  The complaint “describes a circle of friends who essentially formed a criminal club” where “everyone scratched everyone else’s back.”  Recall that last year Raj Rajaratnam was sentenced to 11 years in jail for insider trading gains of a similar amount.

Although prosecutors requested bail of $10 million, the judge set bail at $2.5 million.  The bond was secured by half of that amount by property Chiasson owns. 

Often a court granting bail will impose non-monetary conditions and restrictions on the freedom of the accused to ensure he or she will not commit any more crimes.  These include checking in with the police, turning over passports, electronic  monitoring, home detention, drug and alcohol testing and counseling, and surrendering firearms or weapons.  In addition courts may also grant an “order of protection,” which requires the accused to stay away from the alleged victim.  Violation of these orders can lead to forfeiture of the bail amount, additional fines and imprisonment.

Bail conditions were in the news Tuesday when Pennsylvania prosecutor’s asked that Jerry Sandusky be required to stay in his house as a condition of bail, except for medical treatment.  They also requested that he not be allowed to see his grandchildren – which doesn’t seem unreasonable given that there 52 child sex abuse charges against him.  

Apparently a teacher and intern at the local elementary school had noticed him on his back deck watching children at the local elementary school playing.  Could be that he was just enjoying a nice day outside.  Or it could be really creepy.  Really creepy.  

On Friday the court will hear the bail modification request.  

By the way, Sandusky’s original bail amount was for $250,000 cash – with the court determining he could use $200,000 in real estate holdings towards that amount, along with a $50,000 certified check from his wife.  Guess he didn’t use a bail bondsman.  That way, he’ll save himself the 10% fee, and get the money back as long as he appears in court and complies with all the bail conditions.

The highest bail amount set in the U.S. was $100 million for the bail of Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam. The bond was secured by $20 million in property and cash. Rajaratnam was arrested in October 2009 on insider trading charges: fourteen counts of conspiracy and securities fraud.

Given Rajaratnam’s assets, the judge determined that $100 million bail would be enough to incent the accused to come to court.

Apparently that was a sufficient amount to prevent Rajaratnam from fleeing – in October 2011 he was sentenced to 11 years in Massachusetts prison, in addition to a $63.8 million fine. The SEC also fined Rajaratnam $92.8 million.